Apparatus and method for noise and splash abatement in a toilet bowl



May 21, 1968 B. CARMICHAEL SUMNER 3,333,710 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR NOISE AND SPLASH ABATEMENT IN A TOILET BOWL Filed Aug. 11, 1964 Z AZO/ /Vm United States Patent APPARATUS AND METHGD FOR NQESE ANll) SPLASH ABATEMENT IN A TilLllT IlQWZ oarmlchael Sumner, New York, N.Y., assignor to Stillwater Bevelopment Corporation, New Yorlz,

N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 11, 1964, Ser. No. 392396 Claims. ((Zl. d -i) ABSTRACT 9F THE DISLOSURE The noises and splashes usually associated with the deposit of body Wastes in toilets are abated by providing on the'surface of the water contained in the toilet a layer of form through which the wastes are passed. The foam may be produced by chemical action immediately prior to use by the addition of foaming ingredients such as a carbonate or bicarbonate and an acid, such as oxalic or citric acid, as well as bonding materials, for example, a gum or high viscosity methylcellulose, and foam stabiizers, for example, Sap-onin or licorice, to the water contained in the toilet bowl.

Having briefly summarized the disclosure, the present invention is for a quiet toilet and it includes a method for abating noise and splash from toilet bowls. In particular, the invention is for minimizing the noises and splashes which are usually associated with the deposit of body wastes in toilets.

It has long been a source of embarrassment for the sounds associated with toilet use to be heard elsewhere. The problem has been made worse by the construction of more compact living quarters. Frequently, the construction is less solid and without the heavy walls and fioors that used to serve as some barrier to the transmission of these noises throughout ones home or apartment. This invention provides the first practical solution to this problem and the long felt need to provide for privacy and decorum in the use of toilets in sound as Well as in sight.

Splashing has also been associated with the use of the water closet and has been reluctantly assumed to be the inevitable disadvantage that must be accepted in return for other advantages of the modern flush toilet. But the splashing is unsanitary and unpleasant to the user. It also contaminates the surrounding areas thereby causing additional sanitary and cleaning problems and presenting the housewife with an unpleasant task. By the teaching of this invention, this is now unnecessary and may be simply and easily avoided.

These problems must be evaluated in view of the fact that they have remained unsolved although, as the general standard of living has improved, persons have come to expect a higher level of performance from those simple machines and facilities that provide for our personal needsas is apparent from a general comparison of any modern bathroom (or kitchen) with its counterpart of a generation ago. But the noise, splash and embarrassment of the water closet have not previously yielded to the various attempts at their elimination. Indeed, the engineering and operation of the water closet toilet has changed but little since the turn of the century.

The problems have occasioned the attention of those skilled in the field, bu the best efforts of the prior art have been clumsy and not suitable for a widespread commercial development. A good example is provided by the recent Patent No. 2,931,041 issued to M. R. Stebbius. It teaches the use of a toilet bowl screen and bafiie which is automatically lifted to usable position when the toilet seat is raised to an upright position so as to eliminate the unsanitary s -latter and embarrassing noise encountered ice when a toilet bowl is used as a male urinal. But there are considerable drawbacks to such teaching of the prior art. For example, the suggested screen construction cannot handle the noise and splash of solid material and this basic defect restricts its usefulness to the periods during which the bowl is being used as a male urinal. Moreover, this limited usefulness makes it necessary to provide a construction for raising and lowering the screen depending on the use to which the toilet will be put and this device produces cleaning and sanitation problems.

According to the novel conception of the present invention, the defects of the prior art are avoided. The invention makes it possible to provide a quiet toilet for the home and control the noise and splash associated with the use of a toilet bowl both as a male urinal and otherwise by a method that can be simply practiced in the home. Moreover, the invention lends itself to use with standard water closets which not only need not be discarded and replaced but which may be used without modificaticn or attachments.

in brief, the conception and present invention is to produce a foam within the toilet bowl just prior to use. in particular, and with reference to FIG. 1, the foam is provided as a layer 1 on top of the toilet bowl water 13. This foam will muffie the sound and greatly lessen, if not completely eliminate, the splash both of which have for so long been associated with the deposit of body Waste in a toilet and a source of embarrassment to both user and others present in the household.

It has been found by experimentation that the foam is preferably thick and constituted of small bubbles; this is especially desirable for control of a splash.

Preferably, the foam is formed quickly in the relatively still water of the toilet bowl just before use. At the same time, the foam desirably has a short average life and also breaks down reasonably quickly so as to be selfdispersing when the toilet is flushed and so as to preclude over-taxing the sewers.

It will appear that the major developments in foam research are not very applicable to the present novel invention. For example, there has been concern for the production of stable foams for use in manufacture of permanent foams of resinous materials, polymers and the like, for use as insulation or in packaging for shipment. Foams have also been developed for use in fire fighting. There the need. is for a stable, long-lasting form even at high temperatures to prevent oxygen from reaching the source of combustion. The characteristics of these foams and the methods for producing them are generally unsuited to the present application. On the other hand, there have also been extensive efforts made to prevent the formation of foams, as it is frequently an unwanted by-product of an industrial process and hinders a continuing reaction or makes for difiicult handling problems.

Nevertheless, there is a considerable body of foam know-how and, as appears from the claims, the applicant does not claim the particular foam composition as a part of his basic invention. It is expected that further experiment?! n and researcn will produce improvements in foams for the practice of the present invention. The best mode now contemplated by the inventor or carrying out his invention is to combine the foamroducing material in the foam of a tablet which may be applied to the toilet bowl water just prior to use. Alternatively, the foam producing ingredients may be added to the toilet bowl in liquid form. While a dispenser may be used, this is most simply done by hand. This tablet should be water soluble and it may consist, for example, of a carbonate or a bicarbonate with an acid in solid form. These materials may be compounded with a water-soluble bonding material, such as a gum, for example, karaya gum arabic, or a high viscosity methyl cellulose, in small amounts in the order of one-half percent to provide for the desired average foam life, and a foam stabilizer such as Saponin, licorice or related materials. in particular, the foam-producing material may be in the form of tablets of from about 1 to 2 grams. The tablets, for example, may be compounded of about 46 parts of crystallized oxalic acid H C O -2H O and 46 parts of anhydrous sodium carbonate in the form of soda ash, Na CO These are mixed, after being finely ground, with l to 2 parts of commercial saponin, l to 2 parts of methyl cellulose medium to high viscosity, 1 to 2 parts gum arabic or gum acacia, and l to 2 parts of castile or similar soap in flake form, all of these being in finely divided form. The components are all mixed thoroughly and then sent to a tableting machine to be pressed into tablets of any desired shape or form. For another example, the tablet may be made of an organic acid such as citric acid having the formula (COOH CH C(OH)(COOH)-- CH COOH, 200 parts, an inorganic gas-forming reactive base such as sodium bicarbonate, Nal-lCO 260 parts, a film stabilizer or emulsifier such as high-viscosity methyl cellulose 3 parts, finely divided gum karaya 3 to 5 parts, finely divided coconut-oil soap flakes or Ivory Snow in commercial form 5 parts. All of the constituents are also to be finely ground, thoroughly mixed, and pressed into tablets of the desired weight and form.

These tablets may have, without interfering with their effectiveness, small amounts of perfumes, coloring matters, scents, or other emulsifiers may be added in place of those specified.

The foam is preferably free flowing and does not stick to the Walls of the toilet bowl. While other acids, such as citric, may be used, the use of oxalic acid is helpful in providing a cleaning agent to the bowl and in keeping the foams from adhering to the bowl or contaminating it as would require frequent cleaning.

There are a number of additions that can be made to the basic invention. The foam solution may be given germicidal and deodorant properties by including in the capsule the appropriate ingredients to provide these properties without hindering the formation of foam.

While it is simplest to use tablets and add one by hand to the toilet bowl water just before use, a dispenser may be used to supply either tablets or a predetermined amount of liquid to the toilet bowl at this time, as by discharge from dispenser 15 through valve 17 and Water inlet 19 to the bowl and into water 13. Dispensers themselves are well known to those familiar in that art and need not be described here. It may not, however, be obvious how such a dispenser can be triggered to operate just before the toilet is used. One convenient method is to spring support the toilet seat in neutral position just above the position it assumes when firmly depressed against the toilet bowl. In this neutral position, the seat will be either raised, of the intent is to use it as a male urinal, or depressed, if it is sat upon. Either way a motion will be generated in the seat that can be used by conventional linkage systems to operate the dispenser and cause the foam material to enter the toilet bowl water.

In view of the above teaching, several modifications and variations in keeping with the basic idea will be suggested to those skilled in the art. For example, a liquid dispenser could be used in the form of an aerosol which could consist of a pressure dispenser containing about a 50% solution of a water-soluble soap in contact with a high vapor pressure and relatively low boiling point liquid to serve as a propellant. A typical example of these are the various Frcons or Genatrons which are fiuorinated chlorinated hydrocarbons widely available commercially.

I claim:

I. A method for the disposal of body wastes in a toilet with a minimum of splash and noise which comprises the steps of:

(1) producing immediately prior to use a layer of foam, said foam being positioned on water in the bowl of said toilet and sufficient to abate noise and splash caused by the deposit of said body wastes into said toilet;

(2) depositing said body wastes through said foam; and

(3) flushing away said Water, wastes and foam.

2. A method for the disposal of body wastes in a toilet with a minimum of splash and noise which comprises the steps of:

(1) producing immediately prior to use a layer of thick, small'bubbled, short-lived foam on water in the bowl of said toilet, said foam being self-dispersing upon flushing and sulficient to abate noise and splash caused by the deposit of body wastes;

(2) depositing said body Wastes into said water through said foam; and

(3) flushing away said water, wastes and foam.

3. A method according to claim 2 wherein said foam is produced by the addition of a chemical foam-producing material to said water prior to depositing said waste.

4. A method according to claim 3 wherein said chemical foam-producing material includes a gas-forming material.

5. A method according to claim 4 wherein said chemical material is in tablet form.

6. A method according to claim 5 wherein said material contains a carbonate, an acid and a foam stabilizer.

7. A method according to claim 6 wherein said acid into said water is oxalic acid.

8. A method according to claim 1 wherein said wastes are solid wastes.

9. In a toilet, including a wastes receptacle for receiving and storing water and for receiving body wastes from above, means for quietly receiving and disposing of body wastes comprising:

(1) a layer of thick, small-bubbled, short-lived foam on the water contained by said receptacle through which said wastes are deposited into said water and suflicient to abate noise and splash caused by said deposit; and

(2) disposal means for emptying said receptacle of said water, foam and body wastes.

10. In a toilet, including a wastes receptacle for receiving and storing water and for receiving body wastes from above, including apparatus for quietly receiving and disposing of body wastes comprising:

(1) means for adding a chemical foam-producing agent to said water to form on the surface thereof a thick, small-bubbled, short-lived foam through which said wastes are deposited into said water with a minimum of noise and splash; and

(2) disposal means for emptying said receptacle of said water, foam and body wastes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,798,230 7/1957 Lefebvre et a1. 4227 1,144,660 6/1915 McKnight 4-69 1,348,828 8/1920 Fessenden 18133.02 2,895,910 4/1955 Merton et al. 2523 3,084,651 4/1963 Parameter 181-3302 LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner. HENRY ARTIS, Assistant Examiner. 

